Stranding machine



April 4, 1953 c. o. BRUESTLE 2,634,574

- STRANDING MACHINE Filed June 25, 1949 C'arZ- O.Brues[e 221 i M,

Patented Apr. 14, 1953 2,634,574 STRANDING MACHINE Carl 0. Bruestle, Metuchen, N. J assignor to Syncro Machine Company, Perth Amboy, N. J a corporation of New Jersey Application June 25, 1949, Serial No. 101,445

The present invention relates to stranding or rope making machines, and particularly to a wire stranding machine of the type generally known as a tubular strander. 'Such tubular stranders are well known in the art and an example thereof is disclosed in Somerville Patent 2,416,126, issued February 18, 1947. Machines of this type are very large and the tube in which the various wire reels are mounted has a considerable speed of rotation and requires large openings in the sides thereof in order that the reels may be properly positioned within the tube. When these openings are generally rectangular in shape as has been invariably the case, the material remaining between the openings has been subject to failure due to large centrifugal forces and bending moments resulting from even relatively low speed operation.

My present invention overcomes this disadvantages of existing machines and does this by a very simple structural change. I have found that if the openings through which the reels are passed in order to position them in their cradles are made elliptical sufficient material is provided adjacent the openings so that the portion of the beam extending between openings is of a shape to resist the bending moments resulting from rotation of the tube.

It should perhaps be noted at this point that in my prior application Serial No. 43,581, filed Aug. 11, 1948, and now abandoned, I have shown a tubular wire strander in which circular openings in the tube are utilized. However, that machine diifers in many ways from those most commonly in use and represented by the Somerville patent above mentioned. In the machine of my copending application the reels are mounted within the tube on a vertical axis and it is, therefore, possible to insert the reels into the tube and place them on their supports by a movement of the reel parallel to its axis, while in machines of the Somerville type in which the wire reels are supported on cradles extending horizontally it is necessary to provide larger openings and to insert the reels through the openings and into their position by movement of the reels normal to their axes.

It is an object of my invention to provide a tubular stranding machine of the type in which the wire reels are supported on horizontal axes in which the openings through which the reels are inserted in the tube are in the shape of true ellipses.

It is another object of my invention to provide a tubular strander of the type mentioned having 2 Claims. (Cl. 57-59) the holes which serve as ingress ports for the wire reels so shaped as to increase the resistance of the remaining beam sections of the tubeto bending moments resulting from centrifugal force.

Other objects and features will appear when the following description is considered in connection with the annexed drawings in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation of a portion of a normal type of tubular stranding machine modified in accordance with my invention; and

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the device of Figure 1.

Referring now to the drawings, there is shown a section of tubular strander having the rotating tube 50 which tube is supported at spaced points on the rollers II which are in turn suitably mounted upon the base l2. As is customary, tube I0 is driven in a convenient manner as, for example, by means of the belt l3 which is in turn driven by motor L4. The reels from which the wire to be stranded is payed off are mounted in cradles 15, the reel axes extending perpendicular to the axis of the tube Iii. It has been customary in the past to make the openings I 6 through which the reels are passed in positioning them in the cradles I5 generally rectangular in shape. It will be noted that in my construction these openings are true ellipses oriented with their major axes parallel to the axis of the machine. As a result of utilizing such elliptical openings It the portion ll between the openings has a considerably greater cross-sectional area at the ends thereof. This portion I1 is essentially a, beam which is subjected to bending moments as the tube It is rotated, the moments, of course, being the result of the centrifugal forces resulting from such rotation. As is well known, the bending moments are at a maximum at the ends of the beam section such as represented by the portion ll and, consequently, tubes such as ill have been subject to failure when an attempt was made to operate them above certain relatively low critical speeds. By utilizing elliptical openings Iii and thereby increasing the crosssectional area of the beam at its ends, the beam I! is enabled to withstand much greater forces and in practice I have found that a machine otherwise identical but having elliptical openings in place of rectangular openings may be operated at speeds as much as thirty percent in excess of those which were previously possible.

While I have described a preferred embodiment of my invention, it will be understood that modifications thereof may be utilized within the scope and spirit of my invention. Consequently, I wish to be limited not by the foregoing description but, on the contrary, solely by the claims granted to me.

What is claimed is:

1. In a stranding machine of the type comprising an elongated body enclosing a plurality of reels of strand material arranged along the longitudinal axis thereof, said body being subdivided to form a plurality of tubular sections arranged end to end, the improvement comprising a tubular body having a plurality of openings circumferentially aligned in each tubular section, said openings being adapted for the insertion of reels therethrough while said reels are held in a position in which the axes thereof are perpendicular to the axis of the tube section, said openings in the tubular body being true ellipses having their major axes parallel to the longitudinal axis of the tube.

2. A stranding machine of the type comprising an elongated rotatable tube enclosing a plurality of reels of strand material arranged along the longitudinal axis thereof, said tube being subdivided to form a plurality of tubular sections characterized by having in combination a plurality of openings circumferentially aligned and spaced longitudinally along said tube, said openings being adapted for the insertion of reels of stranded material therethrough while said reels are held in a position in which the axes thereof are perpendicular to the axis of the tube section, said openings being true ellipses having their major axes parallel to the longitudinal axis of the tube.

CARL O. BRUESTLE.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,073,052 Larmuth Sept. 9, 1913 2,416,126 Somerville Feb. 18, 1947 2,477,690 French Aug. 2, 1949 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 331,856 Germany Jan. 10, 1921 563,378 Great Britain Aug. 11, 1944 

